I used to think I didn’t like using blue in my artwork. I am very drawn to warm earth tones . I love terra cotta and orange. (And I actually do have a real aversion to pale baby blue.)

Then, I took a look at my body of work. There it is: lots of blue. And today, working on several very different projects in my studio, I rediscovered the ranges of blue I use, and my reactions to them.

This is a fun series I created several years ago. I am updating the presentation. I had mounted these on birch panels with a raw-edge muslin fringe, which I later concluded was quite a mistake. They have lived on my shelf for several years. There are four in the series. I really like the soft watercolor-like images of the palm fronds and the backgrounds. (All monotype prints on sheer fabric.) So I’m adding a punch of very bright color as a frame. (These are also monotype printed, but on cotton muslin.)

This in-your-face very very blue is an unusual choice for me. It can overpower everything else quickly. On this lighthearted series of collages, I think it works. I’m enjoying these.

A few feet away on my easel is a work I’ve just completed that is part of my series focusing on home and memory. Again, there’s lots of blue. And, some is printed on sheers and some on muslin. But so different from the fish pieces!

(Detail - “Looking Through to the Memory”)

Adding finishing detail - “Looking Through to the Memory”

I’ve found my blue home when I mix phthalo blue with varying degrees of burnt umber, or — sometimes — raw sienna. This range of color is magical to me. It moves nicely into lighter, washy hues. It is wonderful when it’s heavy and deep. I also like this range of blues as a connecting color in landscape/nature-based works.

Looks like I relate to blue more than I believed.

Detail of another blue monotype in my studio now. I’m still formulating a plan for this one.

AN INVITATION: This weekend, I will be one of 22 artists in the DeLand area opening our studios on the Off-The-Beaten-Track Studio Tour, Saturday and Sunday 10-5. If you are in the Central Florida area, please accept this invitation to visit my studio. The tour website is FloridaArtsTour.com. That’s where you find artist information and a map. If you are not a DeLand resident and haven’t discovered our wonderful downtown, that’s another good reason for a day trip adventure. Explore art, meet artists, and enjoy lunch or dinner downtown. A perfect day!

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider. You’ll hear from me by e-mail every two to three weeks. Subscribe here: STUDIO-INSIDER-NEWSLETTER

Have you ever awoken from a dream and felt that you could not quite shake the feeling of still being in it? I have found myself at times thinking back into the dream, trying to name the places and events it contained. My attempts at descriptive words never do justice. “Well, it was a forest, but not a forest really. It just felt like a forest.” Dreams are like that. In “Now Let the Night be” I have created a landscape that has that dream-like quality. It suggests a specific place, but it’s not really a specific place. The arch is a portal we can choose to enter. It is my hope that it beckons in a welcoming way.(You can find out more about this work in the Layered Nature Gallery HERE)